Join us in Austin to learn how enterprise IoT solutions are enabling digital transformation
The adoption of enterprise IoT solutions is proving a boon for efficiency and operational savings in a variety of verticals undertaking the complex process of digital transformation. At a high-level, to fully realize the benefits presented by IoT appliances and the data insight sensors and other devices generate, a robust connectivity system is an imperative, so let’s start by looking at smart buildings, then focus in on how this technology is being leveraged in hospitals and factories.
A smart building is a structure that uses automated processes to automatically control operations including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, security and other systems. A smart building uses sensors, actuators and other smart devices to collect data and manage it according to a business’s functions and services. This infrastructure help owners, operators and facility managers improve asset reliability and performance, which reduces energy use, optimizes how space is used and minimizes the environmental impact of buildings.
The same systems that support these IoT functions can also be used to create a seamless connectivity experience for the people living and working in the building. Ubiquitous cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity are a key enabler of the always on workforce, and, from a tenet perspective, can make or break the appeal of a lease. DAS and small cells, as well as Wi-Fi, built on the back of fiber optic and coaxial cabling can ensure that any person or device, regardless of location or mobility in a building, is connected. Smart building strategies can reduce energy costs, increase the productivity of the facility staff, improve building operations, support sustainability efforts and enhance decision making across the organization.
Healthcare is expected to continue adopting enterprise IoT solutions, as well as cloud-based management and analytics platforms, to keep up with increases in demand for services. Sensors and network infrastructure in hospitals allow for granular real-time patient monitoring, and automation systems can alert medical staff if metrics conform to patient-specific parameters.
AT&T is working to connect people to care teams and extend smart hospital technologies into the home. Not only do people heal and age better in their own homes, but doctors and hospitals would love to get them out of their facilities and into a more familiar environment. The telecom operator is working with medical device manufacturers to determine what tools it needs to build to do that safely.
In fact, the service provider set up the AT&T Connected Health Foundry in Houston to focus on developing IoT technology for healthcare. Health data–and the extensive security mandates and reporting protocols that go with it–is a major consideration. Nadia Morris, head of innovation at the newest Foundry, said, “The reality is that electronic health records aren’t that great right now. The biggest hurdle is that hospitals are not connected. There are no standards for electronic health records and they do not interconnect. You can’t get data from one hospital to the next. The future is to connect all things, wearables, sensors in the home, etc., and have everything transmitting safely and securely into cloud so doctors working in smart hospitals can go back to being doctors and not data entry clerks.”
Industrie 4.0, part of the German government’s overall technology strategy, emphasizes a transition to smart manufacturing as a hallmark of the “fourth Industrial Revolution,” and the principle tenets are being embraced my manufacturers and factory owners around the world.
Closed loop manufacturing systems are marked by sensors used to make production adjustments while the actual manufacturing process is ongoing; this can cut production costs in half. “Injection moulding has long been a mechanical process dominated by mechanical adjustments,” Jesper Toubøl, VP elements and moulds at the LEGO Group, said during a presentation last year. “Now the technology is becoming available to enable adjustments through sensors, we start to see much more closed loop, in which the machines use sensors to adjust themselves.” Digital transformation in factories could further allow connected machines and other production elements to self-organize, increasing the speed of the overall manufacturing function.
Join RCR Wireless News, Enterprise IoT Insights and a diverse group of telecommunications industry leaders and enterprise decision makers for the Enterprise IoT Summit in Austin, Texas, March 28 and 29. With content streams focusing on smart cities, transportation and vertical industries including oil and gas, buildings, agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing, this event presents practical information for IoT-driven digital transformation.
